The administration should study deals with those nations
and an accord with the European Union to lower tariffs and
remove barriers to trade, investment and procurement, Donohue
said in an opinion piece published today in the Honolulu Star
Advertiser. Leaders from 21 nations are scheduled to gather this
weekend in Honolulu for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit.

“Increased trade can be an antidote to our weak economy
and the answer to doubts about American economic leadership at
home and abroad,” Donohue wrote in the Hawaii newspaper. He
urged leaders at the meetings “to pursue a bold and aggressive
trade agenda for the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.”

Donohue reiterated Chamber support for the Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade agreement the Obama administration is
negotiating with Australia, Chile, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia,
New Zealand, Vietnam and Brunei. A trade accord with those
nations would be the first Obama signed rather than inherited
and the biggest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade
Agreement with Canada and Mexico took effect in 1994.

The Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business
lobbying group, was among the top supporters of trade agreements
with South Korea, Colombia and Panama that were ratified by
Congress last month.

Fast-Track Powers

Donohue said that Congress should grant Obama fast-track
authority, a legislative guarantee for trade deals that bans
amendments, limits debate and ensures an up-or-down vote. The
Obama administration said the deals passed last month were
subject to fast-track because talks were concluded before it
expired.

On the stalled Doha round of World Trade Organization
negotiations, Donohue said the group should assemble a coalition
of nations willing to lower barriers to trade in services
industries.

At their meeting in May, ministers from the 21 APEC nations
said the Doha talks face an “unbridgeable” gap and need a new
approach after a decade without a deal. The talks, which began
in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, have three primary areas of negotiation
-- agriculture, industrial goods and services.

The initial impasse emerged over agriculture subsidies in
rich nations. In recent years, the U.S. and EU demanded that
India, China and Brazil reduce tariffs on industrial goods.